Blake Street Tavern successor now eyeing December opening amid $1M repair bill

The new iteration of Blake Street Tavern once expected to debut by Rockies Opening Day is still coming according to its operator But the aim now is to open in December Jeff Moerke who is working to open what will be called The Tavern on Blake Street noted the delay is due to a need to upgrade the building s plumbing and HVAC systems plus the back patio We were at the th hour of the deal and had our building inspection with the landlord They are working tremendously to try and combat this situation for our long-term goals and future But it s a million-dollar expense for us or them at the end of the day he revealed Since then Moerke and his wife Ashley who also own and operate The Tavern Kitchen Bar in Snowmass have been negotiating with Urban Renaissance Group the Seattle-based owner of Blake St over a lease for the -square-foot space Though nothing is finalized Moerke mentioned the parties have literally one more grain of salt to iron out before they can sign and construction can begin Andy Clemens an SRS Real Estate broker representing the landlord was similarly optimistic We want to get this deal done and he s the right tenant Clemens commented There s a lot of homework to do on the mechanical systems and what requirements to be done so someone can operate in there but the plan is to get someone in there by the end of the year Moerke explained Urban Renaissance is likely covering the expected million repair bill He expects to spend another on new tables chairs dishes and equipment Part of the reason Urban Renaissance will foot a large portion of the bill he added is because The Tavern is willing to sign a longer lease The original negotiations were more of a shorter term lesser-length lease at the beginning Moerke added But instead of us forcing the subject we went back to the drawing board to come together with a long term plan to make The Tavern Kitchen Bar a staple as long as I m alive and running businesses Blake Street Tavern closed in after years in business Operating there will be something of a homecoming for Moerke s wife who worked as a bartender for several years under owner Chris Fuselier Moerke also plans on hiring a core group of former Blake Street Tavern staff We ve communicated with a lot of them and obviously with the timing of the situation and we made it clear that here s what we re doing here s the opportunities that are available and stay tuned he added Related Articles El Chingon Bistro kitchen catches fire in Denver s Santa Fe Art District Rio Grande tweaks name menu of downtown location in bid to boost sales Cuba Cuba co-founder returns with soulful take on Cuban specialties Four Denver restaurant dishes we loved in June including poke at Aloha Cones After abruptly closing restaurants Del Taco reopening sites across Colorado Despite the setback in Denver the couple has been busy in the meantime They are also working on the buildout of a -square-foot Las Vegas outpost for The Tavern They also run a retail operation in Aspen named after their kids Harper and Hudson Moerke explained the planned Tavern on Blake Street will feature a menu similar to its sister location in Snowmass with everything from an burger to caviar When we get into the building minus your daily breaks that happen from beating it up the building should be in the best condition it s been possibly ever he announced In order for us to get into profits at once we want to hit that New Year s Eve Super Bowl March Madness run And then hopefully the Rockies do a A costly repair bill isn t the only challenge landlord Urban Renaissance Group has faced lately The firm lost the Area Center complex in LoDo to foreclosure in March it s now facing a related lawsuit and surrendered an office building next to the Tavern building to a lender in February Subscribe to our new food newsletter Stuffed to get Denver food and drink news sent straight to your inbox